Catalonia Votes to Ban Bullfighting

Bloodthirsty 'sport' is dying a slow death across Spain, as younger audiences
turn away

By Alasdair Fotheringham in Madrid
Published on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 by The
Independent/UK

Already
faced with a rapidly ageing fanbase at home and widespread incomprehension
and rejection abroad, Spanish bullfighting has suffered another major
setback after the Catalan parliament voted to outlaw it completely across
the region.

The decision was so controversial that some deputies hunched over their
desks to hide their fingers from photographers as they punched in their
votes. After a narrow initial victory for the abolitionists - 67 in favour
and 59 against - the law could become effective as soon as May.

A man protesting against the 'sport' of bullfightingSpain's right-wing
press was quick to attribute the result to Catalan separatists' desire
to dissociate themselves from an activity often considered as typically
Spanish as tapas, siestas and flamenco. Unofficially, though, even before
Friday's decision, it seems bullfighting circles in the rest of Spain
had given Catalonia up as a lost cause.

Over the past three decades, bullring after bullring has closed in major
Catalan towns such as Gerona, Lloret de Mar and Tarragona, and in Barcelona
only one of the original three rings remains. As far back as 1909, Barcelona
hosted Spain's first anti-bullfighting protest, and by 2004 more than
80 per cent of Catalans were opposed to the practice. "Banning the
bulls in Catalonia would be like drawing up a death certificate for a
long-dead corpse," said Juan Ilian, a leading Spanish bullfighting
correspondent for nearly five decades. "And even if they don't, it'll
remain on its deathbed."

Animal rights groups amassed 180,000 signatures for a petition so that
the vote could go ahead in Catalonia - more than three times the required
minimum - but even the lobby's top activists are not sure how quickly
the ban could extend to the rest of Spain. Antonio Moreno, president of
Cacma, an animal rights association in the bullfighting heartland of Andalusia,
said: "An overwhelming majority of Spaniards, 76 per cent according
to Gallup surveys in 2009, are not in favour of bullfighting. However,
only half that total want outright prohibition. The government promised
six years ago to improve animal welfare laws, but it's been dragging its
heels. It's only through legislation like in Catalonia that things are
changing."

A lack of enthusiasm for bullfighting among younger generations is most
likely to deliver the estocada - the killer blow, in bullfighting terminology.
A recent survey showed bullfighting to be most popular among Spaniards
in the 45-plus age group. And Spanish state television, TVE, has dropped
it permanently from its schedule because, an inside source at TVE said,
"it was considered too bloodthirsty for children to watch".

"It's not necessarily that younger Spaniards are more in favour
of animal rights, they just don't care so much about bullfighting,"
Johanna Mayrhofer, an Austrian long-term Spanish resident and animal rights
activist, said. "Bullfighting isn't part of their day-to-day culture,
as it was for nearly all Spaniards a few decades back."

Long-term observers such as Mr Ilian recognise that while support for
bullfighting remains healthy in strongholds such as Andalusia and Madrid,
its mid-term prospects are grimmer. "There's a dedicated minority
who follow it closely, and some bullfighters have a huge media presence,
like rock or film stars, but the vast majority of spectators who go to
a bullfight these days have no idea which fighter they're going to see,"
he said. "Instead, it's just become a show, and interest among the
general public is dropping."

"It was banned in the Canary Islands in the mid-1990s, but there
was already very little support there," Mr Moreno added. "This
is the first big step on mainland Spain."